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Originally Posted by cmac2012
I read once that people back when in upper Scandanvia, Vikings I guess, would put severely birth-defected babies out on the ice for a quick, mostly painless death. They say freezing to death is one of the easiest ways to go.
Sounds harsh, but they were up against far more pressing immediate economic concerns: having sufficient labor to support the tribe, village, family and they simply couldn't spare the labor for that sort of care.
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I think similar things happened in all societies until recently. In ancient Greece and Rome, 'exposing' babies was not uncommon. They were left in a secluded place (i.e. where you couldn't hear them cry) to die. This was done for unwanted children as well as those born with obvious 'defects.' Evidently abortion was not widely available then; I believe the first recorded abortion occurred sometime around 2500 BC, though, in Egypt.
I think it would be easier than people generally think for these sorts of practices to make a comeback.